Festival
by Haruka Sumairu
Summary: The main characters had been eagerly awaiting the festival for days, but little did they know of the events that were soon to take place... —One-Shot Series— Kairi x Yaya, Kukai x Utau, Amu x Ikuto, Rima x Nagihiko.
1. Prologue

**007. Prologue**

* * *

The day of the annual Seiyo Academy—both elementary and middle school—Festival is approaching. Those who attend always have a good time, and the surrounding neighborhoods always come to visit.

When you first enter the school gates, you are greeted by cheerful students of the academy, passing out maps and brochures of the school and the festival.

You are then surrounded by plentiful booths filled with eager students willing to make your day enjoyable.

On one side of the schoolyard, the food booths stand near each other, constantly battling on about who's booth is the most popular. From classical Japanese food, to 'not-so-fast' fast food, all the way to deserts; these booths have it all.

On the other side are the souvenir booths, filled with assorted items made by the students. Clothes, accessories, toys, household items, you name it. Except socks. For some reason, they never have socks.

And when you walk past those, straight ahead, you come across the most enjoyable booths of all: the entertainment booths. These booths are filled with every fun thing you can imagine. Big booths hold stages, where puppet plays and performances are put on. In smaller booths, there are games and prizes, contests and winners, fortune-telling and tarot cards.

Once you are done looking at the booths outside, you walk inside the school, where each of the classrooms holds activities. You can find a maid cafe in one room, a restaurant in another, and, if you haven't managed to avoid it, a classroom full of peculiar students who talk about leprechauns that live underground and cows on the moon.

Next, you go to the auditorium. You can watch plays, musical performances, magic shows, and more. And when you leave, they even give you a complimentary water bottle.

By the time you are done with all the above, the sky has become darker, the air has gotten colder, and you are already tired. But before you leave the festival, the students will hold a large bonfire in the middle of the schoolyard, complete with marshmallows. That is, if you still have the money to pay 100 yen for a few marshmallows.

And though you go home tired, you still have had a fun and enjoyable time at the festival, and you are already making plans to go back the next year.

* * *

The main characters in this story had been eagerly awaiting the festival for days, ever since they started preparing for it. During those days of hard work, they had begun to plan what they'd be doing at the festival.

Amu, the pink haired heroine, had the job of working at the bonfire on the night of the festival, giving her the whole day to enjoy herself. Though she wouldn't admit it, she looked forward to the magic shows, wondering what kind of spectacular—and hopefully not cheap—tricks they would perform. But roaming around the festival the whole day with a cat? That was certainly _not_ on her list of things she was anticipating.

The protagonist of this story, unfortunately, could not have fun roaming around the festival all day like she had wished, her curly blonde hair swaying back and forth as she ran around. No, Rima was stuck working at what she believed was the worst booth in the whole festival. It was also the one that came with surprising events—perhaps something that could change her views about a certain indigo-haired boy?

The latter—Nagihiko—was to work a two-hour shift at the classical Japanese food booth, due to his extensive knowledge about things that are classical. And Japanese. What he ended up doing after his shift came to him by surprise. And it was _certainly_ not a waste of 1000 yen.

Kairi, who had once again become the Guardian's Jack's chair, was to work at the entertainment booth, showing a fascinating display of his capabilities in swordsmanship. He was character-changed with Musashi, although no one really minded. There was something that he was quite pleased about that day, and it had to do with his cheerful senpai.

Yaya—also called 'Yaya-senpai' by Kairi—blackmai- err... _asked_ the sweets booth politely if she could work there for the festival, and was ecstatic when they reluctantly put her on the list. But her plans of secretly eating sweets on the job would be ruined. But not in a bad way. It had something to do with dragging her dear Kairi around the festival.

And last, but not least, their easy-going, soccer-loving senpai, Kukai. Apparently, Kukai was not very fond of working at the festival, and so, he donated so much microwavable ramen to the ramen booth, that he practically "bought" his way out of working. His plans included wandering around the festival aimlessly, and every now and then eating at the ramen booth. His bowls were free, since it _was_ he who donated everything they sold.

But he hadn't planned on sharing his bowl of ramen with somebody else; and that 'somebody else' didn't plan on another somebody else showing up. But it was for good reason.

They all eagerly awaited the day of the festival, completely unaware of the events that were about to take place...


	2. Hands

**008. Hands**

**The Story of Kairi and Yaya  
**

* * *

Kairi walked out of the booth, the slightly cold breeze of the morning air whipping his face while he smiled. He had just finished his first performance at the entertainment booth; he would be coming back in a few hours for one more performance of his capabilities in swordsmanship.

He had felt a rush of excitement and eagerness during his performance, his swords slashing the air quickly in a number of different movements that amazed the crowd. He couldn't wait for his next performance.

Currently, he was on his way to invite a certain senpai to come see his next show. His short few hours of break were when she would be working, so she would hopefully be free by the afternoon.

Speaking of Yaya...

"Kairi-kun!" a happy voice screamed from behind him. He was soon glomped from behind by his one-and-only Yaya-senpai.

The said boy turned around to find an excited Yaya smiling widely at him. He stared in confusion. Why wasn't she at work right now? Even after bullying the sweets booth committee into putting her on the job, was she still going to be lazy and back out?

He apparently said this out loud, because Yaya then pouted and whined, "Mou~ You don't have to be that way~" She quickly reverted back to her usual self and exclaimed happily, "I did work today. But after one hour of working, they said I could go already! The committee said I did such a great job that I shouldn't be working and just enjoy the festival!"

Kairi blinked and asked, "What exactly were you doing in there?"

"Oh, I was to watch over the supply of sweets in the back room. But - don't tell them though - I was actually eating some of them too. They were really good~"

Ah, so _that _was it. "That's nice, Yaya-senpai."

Suddenly, a loud and familiar "EHHHH?" was heard. Even though it came from the distance, Kairi and Yaya could still hear it. Thinking it was just another excited festival-goer, they ignored it and carried on.

"C'mon Kairi! Let's go explore the festival together! People are already having fun without us!" Then she grabbed his hand tightly and dashed for the nearest booth.

* * *

The first place they arrived at was one of the entertainment booths. Yaya found a booth that held a prize she claimed was 'something she absolutely needed', but did not want to waste the effort into trying to win it. So she attempted to persuade Kairi, who shook his head and came up with the excuse that he was no good at those kind of games.

Being the baby she was, she gave him the puppy-dog eyes, and Kairi, with a slight blush on his cheeks, finally gave in.

The booth held a game where you use a bow and arrow to hit a target. If you make a bulls-eye, you can get one of the bigger prizes they offered. The prize that Yaya wanted was a cute little Hello Kitty doll wearing all green—a typical choice for someone like her.

After paying the 200 yen fee, Kairi was given three arrows and a bow that was a lot heavier than it looked. _Please make it in_, he pleaded.

Closing one eye and aiming at the bulls-eye, Kairi pulled back the arrow and fired. Yaya clenched her eyes shut, and when she opened them, the arrow was...

...in the center.

Breaking into a smile, she ran up to Kairi and exclaimed, "Great job, Kairi!"

Proud of the praise Yaya was giving him, he smiled back and gave her the prize, making her squeal in delight and smile even more. She hugged it tightly then said, "Let's go to the next booth!" Once again, she grabbed his hand and raced to another booth in the festival.

Yaya dragged Kairi almost everywhere: they went to more game booths (though strangely Yaya didn't ask for anymore prizes), they fell in line for the tarot card reading, but Yaya freaked at the last minute and instead went to watch some of the stage plays inside the school auditorium, and they wandered into many of the different classrooms.

* * *

But what they didn't notice was, as they ran around the festival, was that Yaya's hair ribbons were slowly coming off, and then finally, dropping to the floor, forgotten. Her hair, which was usually in pig-tails, was now straight down and long, making her almost unrecognizable.

Meanwhile, a different pig-tailed girl saw the ribbons, picked them up, and smirked to herself. "I can use these."

* * *

Soon enough, hours had passed by, and it was already the afternoon. Kairi had to remind Yaya that he still had to go to his next performance, and she eagerly took him back to the entertainment booth to get ready.

He quickly put on his costume - which looked similar to his character transformation costume - and took a deep breath and went on the stage. His swords at hand, he quickly glanced at the crowd. In the very front, he saw Yaya, who was clearly excited for his performance.

Eager to give her the best show yet, he readied himself and started.

His swords went in this direction and that, simultaneously slashing the air and making clinking noises. Someone then threw a fish onto the stage, and before anyone could blink, the fish was cut into small, delicate pieces. The crowd was amazed at his quickness and accuracy.

Then, after doing a few more tricks, he ended his performance with a steady bow, and exited the stage. As expected, the first one to greet him was Yaya. "You were amazing! I can't believe you can do all that!" she exclaimed.

Kairi smiled. "Thanks Yaya. Now that I'm done, do you want to get some ice cream? It's getting really hot now."

"Yay! Ice Cream~" shouted Yaya. This time, instead of her dragging Kairi there, they walked happily to the ice cream booth, hand in hand.

"Good afternoon Sanjo. Good afternoon Yuiki," the waitress, a girl with short brown hair, greeted them. "What kind of ice cream would you like today?"

"I'll have strawberry." said Kairi.

"And I want vanilla!" Yaya smiled.

"Coming right up," she told them, and left quickly to the back to get the ice cream.

"Hey Kairi," Yaya said, "You called me Yaya today."

"Huh?" Kairi gave a confused look. "When?"

"When you asked me to get ice cream."

"Oh," he gave a sheepish smile and apologized, "Sorry Yaya-senpai. I didn't mean to leave out the honorific."

"No! That's okay! I've been telling you to call me Yaya! Keep calling me Yaya, okay?" she demanded.

"Okay Yaya, I'll keep calling you Yaya. Should I say it like this, _Yaya_?" he teased.

She giggled. The waitress then came back with their ice cream. "Here you go! Strawberry and vanilla!"

"Thank you!" they said simultaneously.

The waitress just smiled and commented, "Aww, you two make such a cute couple."

Yaya smiled back and said, "Thank you~" The waitress smiled again and left to help the next customer.

Bewildered and confused by what just happened, Kairi asked, "Yaya, why did you say that to the waitress?"

"Say what?"

"Say that, well," he fidgeted a little, slightly blushing at the thought of it, "that we're a couple. Or at least, confirmed her suspicion."

Yaya motioned him to look down to their hands, and she blushed at the sight of it. She grinned, and replied, "Well, because we are a couple, aren't we?"

* * *

**Hello, one and all! This is the first one-shot in my first one-shot series~ **

**It was inspired by Shugo Chara Encore! I plan on having four one-shots (including this one), and they're all the "canon-ish" couples. I decided I would try to write other couples, just this once, and I really liked this one-shot. :D I hoped to go for a "fluffy/cute/innocent" one-shot. **

**And also, if you may have noticed, I put Rima and Nagihiko for the characters in the story properties. That's because, even though there's other couples, the last story of the series will end with Rimahiko, and I plan on making it the best (and longest) one-shot in the series! **

**Since Rimahiko _is_ my favorite~**


	3. Ramen

**009. Ramen**

**The Story of Kukai and Utau**

* * *

It was a bright, sunny, morning at the festival. Kukai had just met up with Amu, and after greeting her and talking for a while, he took his leave. Now, since Kukai never made any plans for the festival except visit the ramen booth, he decided that he would go there first to fill his appetite before wandering off.

Kukai walked passed the entrance and to the section with the food booths. The ramen booth was a small, beige colored, tent-like booth in the middle of two bigger ones. When he entered, he headed straight for the long table and waited for the waiter. Looking around him, he saw that the majority of people at the ramen booth were guys. Even all the workers were guys. There were very few girls there.

"Hey Souma! Can I take your order?"

He turned back to see a fellow member of the soccer team with a notepad in his hand, waiting to take Kukai's order.

"Oh, hey Akira!" he greeted his teammate. Scanning through the twenty-one items on the menu, he calculated that he might be returning at least twenty more times. "I'll have order number one. Oh, and, you heard right? All my bowls are free since I donated all the ramen."

"Yeah, the boss told me. Dude, you're so lucky! I'm so doing that next year! Anyways, since we'll be switching shifts around, to prove that you get all your bowls free, we made this." Akira handed Kukai a manila cardboard piece of paper. It was a make-shift coupon, and on it was scribbled,

**Souma Kukai**

**Coupon for free ramen bowls**

Valid: Festival Day

(Reason: Donated all the ramen)

**Sign here: ...**

Kukai grinned: they even made him a coupon! Taking the pen in the waiter's hand, he signed his name on the line. Then, waving his coupon around like it was a flag, he declared, "Order number one please! Free bowls for Kukai-sama!" Akira laughed at his friends antics, and gave him the ramen bowl.

Order number one was hard noodles, with a large variety of orange and green vegetables. He rapidly finished his bowl and leaped off his chair. Waving back as he ran out, he thanked Akira for his ramen.

* * *

Kukai stumbled out of the ramen booth and stopped where he was. In a dilemma of where to go next, he turned to the nearest person and asked them to play Rock-Paper-Scissors with him. Confused, the random person played, and lost—scissors vs. rock. Kukai thanked the person and headed to his right. Apparently, if he won, he would go right of the ramen booth. If he lost, he would go left. He really _didn't_ plan his day.

To his right were the entertainment booths; there were many luck booths. So, he went to every single one of them and tested his luck.

One of the booths consisted of him trying to scoop goldfish with those flimsy nets. "This isn't luck, it's skill!" he had cried. So after paying the required fee, he picked up his net and aimed for the nearest goldfish. With a flick of his wrist, he caught the goldfish with ease and placed it in the plastic bag. The audience was amazed at his skill. They started placing bets on him and paying him to catch the goldfish for them.

After spending about two hours there, he finally broke away with the excuse that he was hungry. It was true, of course, so he didn't have to feel guilty about lying. Pocketing the money, he started to walk towards the ramen booth again, eager to try order number two.

As he slowly strolled towards the food booths, he bumped into someone. "Sorry!" he apologized. Upon seeing who the culprit was, he smiled and acknowledged him. "Fujisaki! Sorry dude, I wasn't looking!"

"Haha, that's okay Souma-kun." Nagihiko replied.

"So," Kukai said, "what's the rush?"

Nagihiko rubbed the back of his head. "I was just looking for-"

Kukai interrupted him as he suddenly remembered something that Amu had asked him to do that morning.

**~Flashback~**

_'Kukai! Everyone texted me saying they couldn't meet up with us this morning because of work, but Rima never texted back! She said she had to work at a booth, but nothing more than that! When you're going around the festival, can you please look for her?'_

_'Sure Hinamori!'__ he waved as he walked away._

**~End Flashback~**

"Oh, you're looking for someone? Hey, could you look for Rima for me? Okay, thanks Fujisaki!" Kukai started walking away.

Nagihiko caught up with him and told him, "Actually, I was just-", but was caught off when Kukai dashed towards the ramen booth, only a few meters away. He didn't even notitce the bright red ribbons on the ground next to him.

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain someone picked up those ribbons and smirked to herself. "I can use these." She put them on and shivered at the sight of herself and her outfit. 'Ugh, uniforms.'

Turning, she accidentally bumped into someone. "Ah, sorry..." When she looked up, she silently gasped. "Oh, what are you doing here?"

The other certain someone smirked at her. "You know, enjoying the festival." He did a double take at her and teased, "Nice get-up. Red really suits you."

"Ah, shut up. Anyways, if you're here for _her_, I don't know where she is."

"Oh?" he questioned. "And what are you here for? _Him_?"

The girl blushed and stammered, "W-whatever." Calming herself down, she added, "Well, it was nice to see you again. You really ought to look at your phone more often, you never reply to my texts."

As she started to walk away, the boy called, "While you're here, don't forget to buy a souvenir for mom!"

She waved signaling that she would. The boy shook his head slowly as he muttered, "Hmm. Looks like she's finally over me. She's finally growing up."

"Anyways, time to start looking for _her_."

* * *

About five hours had passed, and Kukai had already visited the ramen booth at least eighteen more times. He also went to every single booth he laid his eyes on, and he roamed the hallways of the school countless times.

Using some of the money in his pocket, he had gone to one of the booths and bought a backpack. Kukai wanted to try everything on the menu that day, but he wanted to leave his stomach empty for order number twenty-one.

Order number twenty-one was the biggest ramen bowl he had ever seen. It was filled with every single type of noodle the ramen booth sold, and tossed in was everything that could be put on ramen. The size of almost three lobster plates, it was the ULTIMATE ramen bowl.

So, the eighteen times that he went to the ramen booth after his meeting with Nagihiko, he ordered his free ramen bowl and put it in his backpack. He could save it and eat it at home, and save himself some money at the same time.

He raced to the ramen booth, ready to face the bowl that he had been awaiting for about five hours of his life.

As he sat down on his chair, he closed his eyes and imagined what it would look like. Would it be as big as it claimed? How many types of noodles were possible? How would it taste? He sensed that the waiter was near, so without opening his eyes, he ordered number twenty-one and placed the coupon in front of him to show.

He heard a small laugh and a familiar, feminine voice exclaimed, "You're pretty lucky there Kukai, getting to have free ramen."

Kukai was confused. All of the workers at the ramen booth were guys, so why was there a girl serving him? He opened his eyes and stared at the girl in front of him. She stared back. After a few seconds had passed, he jumped up and pointed, "AHA! So it _is_ you, Utau!" He flailed his arms around, excited that he had guessed correctly.

Utau grinned as she asked him, "How did you know it was me?"

"Disguises are no match for me! And besides, it was pretty obvious, considering you looked pretty much the same." Utau had somehow obtained the elementary school uniform in her size, and along with the red plaid skirt, she had bright red ribbons on her hair to match.

"Darn, I thought it would work. Oh, and here's your order." she placed the humongous ramen bowl in front of Kukai and gazed at it longingly.

Kukai caught her gaze and smirked to himself. "Hey Utau, wanna share it with me?"

Utau blinked at him and smiled. "Sure." She hopped onto the chair next to him. Kukai cut an imaginary line down the middle of the bowl.

"This side is yours," he pointed to the right of the imaginary half line, "and this side is mine." He gestured towards the left side.

"Okay." She replied. Then, smirking, she asked, "Are you challenging me?"

Kukai threw his head back and laughed. "You know me too well, idol."

So, they picked up their chopsticks and readied themselves. One the count of three, they started eating their half of the ramen as fast as they could. They went so fast it was very blurry to look at. Because they were so excited about the wonderful taste of order number twenty-one, they had their eyes closed. The wonderful different tastes blended together into one magnificent taste you could never have imagined to taste in ramen.

A few minutes had past and they were almost done eating. But what they didn't notice was that, when it was down to the last noodle, they both picked it up without knowing. The noodle was very long, and they had their eyes closed while they ate, so they didn't notice. They rapidly slurped the long, big noodle. Their heads turned towards each other, both hurrying to finish the noodle.

Finally, when their faces were practically a breath apart, they opened their eyes. The two of them were so shocked to be close to each other that they bumped into each other, and...

...their lips touched.

They stayed in that position for a moment; the world around them froze and they were still.

Utau finally came to her senses and ate the last of the noodle while Kukai just sat there, gaping about what happened. Blushing furiously, Utau stood up and stammered, "I-I call victory."

That brought Kukai back to earth, and he tried to act normally. "Ah...aw man!" he managed to shout as he slammed his fist on the table, making a _bang_! "That just isn't fair Utau, I've been coming to eat here at the ramen booth the whole day!" he whined.

"Well that's too bad Kukai. I win this time and you know it."

But he didn't hear her; he was lost in his thoughts about their little "moment". Suddenly grinning evilly, he said, "Hey, let's do that again."

Utau stared at him, confused. "Have another ramen contest? We can have one next time-"

"No," he cut her off, a blush forming on his face, "I mean let's do _that_ again."

She blushed too and blinked at him, obviously very flustered. Then she smirked and cooed, "Oh, _that_? Okay. Will we use the ramen again?"

* * *

**Ahahaha. Kutau. And Nagi makes a guest appearance! :D**

**Remember when you asked what Utau was gonna do with Yaya's hair ribbons? Where here it is. **

**SPOILER; All of the chapters will be linked together in some way or another.  
**

**Did you enjoy it? Again, my very first time writing this couple. And it's longer than the last chapter! I feel so proud of myself. :) **

******And, one more thing...I told myself I would never do this but, just to tell you...when I see your review, it makes me happy. *wink wink***  



	4. Hugs and Kisses

**013. Hugs and Kisses**

**The Story of Ikuto and Amu  
**

* * *

Amu had a feeling that it would be a good day when she woke up that morning.

The moment her alarm clock rang - at exactly 7 o'clock - she pressed the off button and swung out of bed, stretching her arms up. She hummed a little tune while she did her usual morning routine; wash face, eat breakfast, shower, yadda, yadda, yadda.

"Bye Amu-chan! Have a fun day at the festival~" her mom called out as she walked out the door. Amu walked the streets and up the hill to the academy, where the school festival awaited her. The sun was just coming out, and the morning air was refreshing.

Just like everyone else, Amu was excited for the festival, but since she didn't have to work her shift until the evening, she took her sweet, sweet time going to the festival. After all, she knew that only Kukai was available to meet up at the start of the day - all her other friends had to go to their work shift early.

Amu had texted all her friends if they wanted to meet up the morning of the festival. All of them except Rima and Kukai had replied back saying that they couldn't, they had to be at the festival early to set up because they had to work. She had expected this, but was awfully glad when Kukai said that he could meet up; he claimed that "he was an excellent student at the school, so the school decided to give Kukai a break this year".

Rima, on the other hand, didn't text her back. This left Amu worrying about Rima; was she alright? Did something happen? Amu had asked around, but nobody knew where Rima was working in the festival.

When Amu reached the festival entrance, she spotted a messy batch of brown hair showing from the side.

Kukai!

She ran over to where he was, and was greeted by his usual, happy, smile. "Hey Hinamori! You're late," he laughed.

Amu just smiled back and said, "Hi Kukai. Thanks for meeting me here." Kukai nodded and shrugged. "Well, that's what friends are for, right? But where's everybody else?"

"They had to go to their shift early," she frowned. "Figures."

"Well, I guess we better explore the festival, eh? Okay, Hinamori, see you later!" Kukai turned and started walking away.

"W-wait! Kukai!" He turned his head. "Everyone texted me saying they couldn't meet up with us this morning because of work, but Rima never texted back! She said she had to work at a booth, but nothing more than that! When you're going around the festival, can you please look for her?"

Kukai just kept walking while waving his hand in the air. "Sure, Hinamori!"

"Later!"

* * *

Amu had started her day off by walking past the numerous food booths. She had seen some of the interesting ones, such as the English dessert booth, and was making mental plans to stop by later to bring some home. She had also passed by the ramen booth briefly, where she glimpsed Kukai wolfing down a huge ramen bowl.

She looked inside each booth she passed by, but she didn't see Rima at all. She waved to Nagihiko, who was working in the classical Japanese booth, and to Yaya, who was just starting her shift at the candy booth. Once, she saw a tall girl with blonde hair who was wearing a _heck _of a lot of red who was running behind some of the booths. She thought it was Rima for a second, but it came to her senses that Rima wasn't as tall as the passing-by stranger.

Now she was just aimlessly wandering around an almost deserted area of the festival. There were a few booths here, but they were small and uninteresting. She stopped walking when she spotted a big tree in the middle of the area. Deciding to take a break, she sat down and leaned against its trunk. When she placed her hand down by on the right side of her lap, she felt something blocking her way. When she looked down, she saw an empty water bottle.

When did that get there?

Amu picked it up and noticed a small, rolled up piece of paper inside it. Curious, she opened the bottle and shook the piece of paper out. There was a simple message written on it that said:

**Look up.**

Her head bolted up and she saw something that she was _definitely_ not expecting. And so, she screamed. "EEEHHH?"

.

"EEEHHH?" A short distance away, two certain underclassmen heard Amu's scream. But, thinking it was just another excited festival-goer, they ignored it and carried on.

.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?" Amu yelled, her eyes wide and her arms flailing around frantically. The said person smirked in a hentai/cat like manner, and jumped down to the ground.

"You mean up in the tree?" he asked, still smirking. "Why, I was waiting for you."

"Oh, well it would be expected...but let me rephrase that last sentence. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"Aww, you didn't miss me at all, Amu?" Ikuto's teasing hadn't changed at all, and he casually swung his arm over her shoulder.

"P-P-PERVERT! Get your hands off me!" Amu struggled to be free from his grasp, but Ikuto just gripped onto her and was determined not to let her go.

"Nope, no can do, Amu~chan. Not unless you go around the festival with me~" Ikuto cooed into Amu's ear, making her face become redder than it already was. If that was possible.

"F-fine," she attempted to scoff in her "Cool & Spicy" manner, "but you're paying for whatever we spend."

* * *

"So, where shall we go first?" Ikuto asked, looking to the left and right.

Amu, head down and face red, replied, "Somewhere with as little people as possible."

"Aw, why? I would have thought you would want to 'socialize'," he teased.

"No, it's just that..." she trailed off. "Can you **not** put your arm around me with all these people around?"

Suddenly aware of the whispers around them ("Eh, it's Hinamori-san. Is that her boyfriend?" "Wah~ he's so hot." "He looks older. Hinamori-san is so cool!"), Ikuto smirked and kissed her cheek.

Amu's face became a hundred times redder, and he whispered, "Oh, so you're embarrassed. Why are you embarrassed that I'm you're boyfriend, hm?"

"You're not my boyfriend!" she whispered back fiercely as they walked passed even more impressed people.

"Aw, don't deny it. You know you love me."

In an attempt to stop talking to him - much to Ikuto's annoyance - she turned to the nearest food booth and pointed. "Let's eat in there, Ikuto."

Ikuto eyed the booth curiously and bluntly asked, "Tacos?"

"..." Amu dragged him away.

"So, where do you want to go?" Ikuto asked Amu.

Amu muttered, "Magic show," and looked away quickly.

"Magic show? Okay," Ikuto told her, smiling.

"Really? You're not going to laugh, or tease me, or anything?" she questioned, surprised.

"Nope, because I already did. And I know you'd blow your top off if I teased you again," he explained. "Hm...now that I think of it," Ikuto thought for a moment, "maybe I wouldn't mind that."

"IKUTO!"

* * *

And so, they went to the auditorium, where it was conveniently time for the first magic show of the day. Both Amu and Ikuto had a good time watching; the magician - and his student assistant - demonstrated many fascinating tricks.

There were many of the classic old tricks, but you had a hard time telling if it was fake or not. The magician didn't bring any of his things, instead using things from the audience or buying them from the booths outside the auditorium. He impressed them all by pulling a rabbit from a person's baseball cap; putting a scared boy in a cardboard box he cut in half, he sawed a the boy's body and put it back together.

Amu's eyes sparkled every time he performed a trick, smiling with each new thing she saw. Even Ikuto was impressed; I mean, have you ever seen someone make a toaster explode just by snapping their fingers?

When the exited the auditorium, Amu heard someone's stomach rumble. "Ikuto? Are you hungry?" she asked in a teasing way, happy that it was the other way around.

"Yeah..." Ikuto mumbled. "Amu, feed me."

"Ew, no way! Feed yourself, you hentai neko."

Ikuto turned his head and spotted something. "Hey Amu, Amu."

He was replied with an annoyed "What?" from Amu, and he continued on. "Let's have taiyaki."

"Eh? They have a taiyaki cart here?" she looked around and her eyes sparkled. "Okay! Let's eat there," she exclaimed happily as she dragged Ikuto, who was smiling to himself, to the booth.

They walked to the student running the cart and ordered. "Two orders of chocolate taiyaki please."

"Ah- Hi-Hinamori-san," the student exclaimed, surprised, "and boyfriend! C-coming right up!"

He left an annoyed looking Amu and a smirking Ikuto alone to get their order. "Why do they always think you're my boyfriend? Jeez," Amu snapped in her "Cool and Spicy" voice, aware of the surrounding people staring at them.

"And this is why you're the best girlfriend ever," Ikuto remarked as the student gave them their taiyaki.

"I _said_- ugh, come on, let's go." She walked away, Ikuto following her as he nibbled his chocolate taiyaki.

As they walked on, the sky grew darker, signaling it was almost the end of the day. "Oh, it's almost time for my shift. Are you still staying Ikuto, or what?"

"I'm staying, so bring me to your shift and show me off to all your friends, okay?" he smirked.

"No." Amu led him to the middle of the festival, where they were just getting the huge bonfire ready. Some people were putting the marshmallows on sticks, some were trying to start up a fire with a minute, little pack of matches, and others were clearing the area to put seats and benches.

Amu helped them get ready, going from one area to another whenever people asked for her help. Ikuto hovered beside her, helping also, while behind him, girls drooled at him and giggled amongst themselves excitedly.

Finally, they somehow successfully lit up the bonfire, signaling everyone to come over. It was almost the end of the festival, and everyone came by to enjoy their last few moments.

"Phew, looks like we're done. Good thing I didn't have to work much," Amu laughed. It was getting crowded by the fire, so they decided to go back to the tree from earlier. But they didn't mind, for they didn't care much about the bonfire anyway.

"It was fun today, wasn't it?" Ikuto asked as they sat down.

Amu paused for a minute before smiling. "Yeah, it was." She looked over at Ikuto, who stared back at her.

"Well, it's time for me to go now," Ikuto stood up, "I'll be heading back to Europe, Amu. I still haven't found my dad yet, but I think I'm close."

"You're...leaving?" she replied in a sad tone, a frown on her face.

Ikuto nodded mutely. "I came because it has been a while, and I wanted to see you again."

Amu kept silent, willing him to continue. "You've grown since we last saw each other, and I was happy to see you again. Until next time. Remember, I'll still be waiting for the day you fall in love with me." He took one last look at her, memorizing her every detail, and started walking away.

She watched as he turned his back and walked away slowly, almost as if he were unwilling to leave. Her heart thumping fast, she was driven by an uncontrollable urge to:

Hug him.

Ikuto froze where he was, feeling her arms around his chest, tightly squeezing him. He turned and saw Amu, her face flushed from practically running at him and hugging him. "Amu..." he whispered softly.

"Ikuto...you'll come back, right? I don't want you to leave, but I know you have to." she murmured and looked up at his face, their eyes connecting and never breaking apart.

"I will Amu, I promise," Ikuto said sincerely. Both their hearts were thumping fast, like there was no end. "See you soon."

He was about to turn when Amu stood up straight, gathered all her courage, leaned forward, and kissed his cheek.

Ikuto stood there, frozen in shock. Did Amu just kiss his cheek? Eyes wide, he saw Amu stumble backward, face beet red. And he smiled a big smile. Amu smiled back widely and said, "I'll see you soon too, Ikuto."

They both went their separate ways, Ikuto grinning like there was tomorrow and Amu spazzing and freaking out about what she just did. But they would always remember that day, the day with their wonderful memory, the day of the Festival.

* * *

**Hm...I don't think this is that great. -_- Again, it's my first time writing this couple, and it was hard for me to try and get both Ikuto and Amu in-character.**

**The story probably doesn't make much sense either; I had a hard time thinking of some "adventure" for them to go through during the festival.**

**Well, it's longer than the last one-shot! ^^ Victory! **

**And there are so many guest appearances in this one (well, mentions, at least).  
**

**Ahahaha, oh well, at least I finished it. I should finish the last one-shot for this (Rimahiko! :D) in about a month hopefully, so stay tuned for that! **


	5. Booth

**014. Booth**

**The story of Nagihiko and Rima**

* * *

**February 6, 2011: Happy Birthday Rima-chan!  
**

* * *

Nagihiko walked slowly and calmly towards Seiyo Academy. It was currently five o'clock—a little too early to start preparing for a school festival—yet Nagihiko was awake and quite alive.

Next to the gate of the academy stood Yaya and Kairi, waving at him.

"Good morning, Yaya-chan, Sanjou-kun," greeted Nagihiko as he walked into the school gate.

"Morning, Nagi~" Yaya said in an unusually sleepy, but still cheery, voice.

"Will Hinamori-senpai and Souma-senpai be coming later, Fujisaki-senpai?" asked Kairi. Nagihiko nodded his head.

"Yeah. Amu-chan doesn't have to come early since she's working during the later hours. And Souma-kun . . . I really have no idea how he got to ditch working today." He shook his head in disapproval, a small sweat-drop beginning to form. "I wish we didn't have to turn down Amu-chan's invitation to meet up later today, but I guess it was inevitable," he sighed.

"Mou~ Amu-chan and Kukai are sooo lucky. Yaya doesn't want to come early!" Yaya whined as she flailed her arms.

Nagihiko looked around with a frown on his face. "Oh, I just noticed. Isn't Rima-chan supposed to be here too?"

"Rima-tan sent Yaya a text saying Rima-tan came earlier! But Yaya has no idea why _anybody_ would want to come earlier than five!"

"Ace, didn't I tell you to stop talking in third-person?" Kairi scolded Yaya. "It isn't grammatically correct."

Turning to Nagihiko, Kairi said, "No worries, Fujisaki-senpai. Ace and I will contact you if we spot Mashiro-senpai. We'll be taking our leave now, then."

Kairi dragged Yaya away from Nagihiko, who was currently yelling in a frustrated voice, "I'll show you 'no third-person,' Kairi-kun!_I'll show you!_"

Nagihiko just smiled nervously as he watched the two walk away_, _thinking of what an odd pair they made.

Once they were out of sight, Nagihiko walked to his own booth. He maneuvered through the food booths until he came to a gigantic, tent-like booth that was a light violet color.

It was decorated in traditional Japanese decor. It also included tables all around the somehow-carpeted floor, and each table included a whole set of really fancy china. Where the school managed to get something as expensive as that, Nagihiko might never know.

As soon as he walked in, the other workers that had already arrived greeted him sleepily. "'Morning, Fujisaki-kun," they mumbled as their eyes slowly drooped, only to be opened again after a few blinks. Nagihiko gave them a small smile and went off to ask the manager what he would do first.

* * *

It was dark inside the booth, but Rima didn't care. She also didn't care that she was the only one working at said booth.

_Why, why, _why_ am I the unlucky one to work in _this _booth?_ Rima wondered for the hundredth time that day.

When they were given their job assignments, the minute Rima saw hers, she loathed it. Hated it. Despised it. Detested it.

So she refused to let anyone inside the booth. Rima would glare at anyone who decided to walk in, and would usually throw some kind of inanimate object at them if they didn't leave.

Rima sat under the single table in the booth in her usual ball formation. She was hiding; if anyone decided to walk in, they were _not_ going to know that _she_ was in charge of it. Rima, of all people.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps come closer to the booth. _'Ugh,'_ Rima thought, _'not again!'_ Still hidden under the table, she heard someone step into the booth.

"Um, is anyone here?" Rima heard a familiar voice say. Familiar enough to not be one of the fanboys. Deciding it was safe to come out, Rima slowly crawled from the table and looked at the mystery person. And he definitely _was_ a familiar person.

"Tsukiyomi?" Rima breathed. Ikuto looked surprised to see Rima as well.

"Oh, you're Amu's friend. Mashiro, right?" he asked Rima. They saw each other often and knew each other mostly through Amu, but they'd never had a decent conversation.

An awkward silence filled the air. "What are you doing back in Japan?" Rima asked. Noticing the look on Ikuto's face, she guessed that he was here to see Amu. "Um, if you're looking for Amu, she's not here with me. She's probably off spazzing around some lame thing like magic shows or something," she explained.

Ikuto chuckled at the last sentence. "Probably. It does sound like Amu." His eyes scanned around the tent-like booth, and he raised an eyebrow when he looked at Rima.

"Nice booth you've got here?" It came out as more of a question than a compliment.

"Thanks. It sucks," Rima replied with fake enthusiasm. Ikuto was looking around the tent some more when he walked towards the table.

He pointed to a water bottle and a piece of paper and pen. "May I use these?" Rima shrugged, obviously not caring. Ikuto clicked the pen and wrote something on the piece of paper, stuffing it in his pocket. Then he opened up the water bottle and took a sip.

"Well, I'll be going now. Thanks again, Mashiro, but I have to go look for Amu." He nodded at Rima.

Rima waved. "Sure. Nice talking to you, Tsukiyomi. And don't forget to say hi to Amu for me."

Ikuto waved his hand back casually as he walked away, signaling that he would.

* * *

After three long hours of preparing the food, cleaning the booths, and setting up eating areas at the classical Japanese food booth, Nagihiko sat down tiredly on a nearby chair.

Finally, the booth was open to the public. Nagihiko was secretly glad that he only had to work the first two hours of the day, since he did most of the food prep.

As customers of all ages walked into the booth, Nagihiko worked in different areas. Sometimes the manager of the booth would call him to help the kitchen crew cook; other times, he was sent to be the waiter, most especially to the dozens of blushing fangirls who ordered almost everything on the menu just so Nagihiko would come back and forth to their table.

And every once in a while, when the fangirls had left the booth and it was almost empty, he was sent outside to advertise - basically, hold a gigantic sign pointing to the entrance of the booth.

Why?

To attract more fangirls of course!

And so, he was sent back and forth around the huge booth here and there, approximately around every 5-10 minutes. But all the while, always thinking about Rima.

Why hadn't she met up? Was she okay?

A while before, Amu had sent him a text telling him about Rima. Apparently, Amu had somehow developed suspicions that Rima ditched the booth and was walking around in disguise, but Nagihiko had calmly replied that such a situation would be quite impossible, because even a wig of the biggest size wouldn't stay on her large mop of hair.

Of course, Nagihiko teased Rima; most friends tease each other. He remembered how he happily rejoiced the day that Rima had finally accepted him as a friend.

…Which was not too long ago, he recalled as he scrunched his eyebrows.

Nagihiko wiped his forehead as he glanced at his watch. _Phew_, he thought, _my shift is finally over._ He walked over to the booth manager, who was just sending someone to the store to buy more ingredients for the cooks.

"Amamiya-senpai," he called to the manager, "my shift is done."

The manger swirled around and smiled at him. "Good job Fujisaki-kun," she said happily. "Business has been booming during our first hours."

"I'll be going now," he said as he walked towards the door.

"Aw! Wait!" she called out as she ran towards him. "Would you be able to work again later?"

Nagihiko stiffened at the thought of going through all that work _again_. He shook his head politely. "Sorry, I can't." Amamiya frowned, disappointed.

"Oh, well. We'll have to find someone else, then." She dug in her pocket and pulled out some bills. She handed it to Nagihiko, who gave her a surprised look.

"One-thousand yen? Oh, I can't accept this. We work at the festival for volunteer hours, not money."

The manager just smiled and said, "Take it. We're grateful for all your hard work today. Go enjoy the festival, Fujisaki-kun."

He just sighed, knowing he was defeated. Nagihiko thanked the manager with a small smile as she walked back to the booth and waved him off.

And so, Nagihiko walked away happily, clutching the thousand-yen bill in his hand as he went off on his search for Rima.

While he passed numerous food booths, he nervously planned what he would do and say once he found her.

"Um, where have you been, Rima? No, no, not like that. Hm… What about... Rima-chan! I finally found you! And then I could give her a surprised look and smile while widening my eyes... Actually, I think acting natural would be best," he mumbled to himself, not looking where he was going. Finally, he bumped into someone.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry," he apologized. He looked up to see none other than...

"Fujisaki! Sorry dude, I wasn't looking!"

"Haha. That's okay Souma-kun." Nagihiko replied.

"So," Kukai said, "what's the rush?"

Nagihiko rubbed the back of his head. "I was just looking for-"

Kukai interrupted him. "Oh, you're looking for someone? Hey, could you look for Mashiro for me? Okay, thanks Fujisaki!" Kukai started walking away.

Nagihiko opened his mouth to explain that he was already looking Rima. "Actually, I was just-" But he was caught off when Kukai dashed towards the ramen booth, only a few meters away.

As Kukai sped away, he called back, "Thanks again, Fujisaki!"

As he watched a trail of dust form behind Kukai, Nagihiko sweat-dropped. "Typical Souma-kun."

* * *

An hour had passed, and the afternoon sun was slowly becoming warmer. Nagihiko panted as he sat down on a nearby branch to rest. For the next hour since he had met with Kukai, Nagihiko had covered a large area of the Festival already. He had passed by the food booths, the entertainment booths, the souvenir booths, the auditorium, and the building, but he still saw no sign of Rima.

Where could she possibly be? He knew for a fact that she was somewhere in the festival. Every student went, no matter what. And he knew she was working somewhere, because he still remembered the day the month before when they had received their job assignments. On that day, Rima had looked at the paper she received in disgust, and glared at anyone who interrogated her about her job.

But once he found her, what would he do? What would he do next? He'd find Rima, then...what?

A loud shout interrupted his thoughts, and he turned his head to see where the shout had come from. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw a bright red-and-blue ferris wheel being set up.

They didn't plan any ferris wheels for the Festival, so what was going on?

He stood up to get a better look, when Seiichiro, the kid with the glasses that fanboyed a lot about Amu, saw him and ran up to him.

The young boy exclaimed, "Fujisaki-senpai! Did you hear? Yamabuki Saaya-sama's father let the school borrow the ferris wheel as a last minute decision! He and Saaya-sama were strolling the festival when Saaya-sama complained that the festival was boring because there weren't any rides. So before you could say 'ferris wheel', her father had already contacted his people and they brought the ferris wheel right away!"

_Oh. Of course_, Nagihiko thought as he mentally rolled his eyes. "Really, Suzuki-kun? Wow, it's great that the festival actually has a ride this year."

Seiichiro nodded in excitement. "Yeah! Well, see you later, Fujisaki-senpai!"

As Seiichiro ran towards the ferris wheel, Nagihiko smiled to himself. _Ferris wheel, huh?_ He thought with a chuckle. _Perfect._

* * *

After kicking about ten people out of the booth, Rima sat under her table with an annoyed frown on her face. Honestly, who in the world decided to give her a bright red booth all the way in a corner? It just makes people more curious about what's in the booth.

She shook her head in disgust. Half the day was gone already, and she hadn't been able to enjoy the festival one bit. She wished that something or someone would come and answer her prayers. Being cooped up in a stupid booth for a few hours already was tiresome. And this is why Rima hated working.

Then someone came in. A whoosh was heard as the person stepped into the booth, and a calm, melodic voice called out, "Rima-chan?"

Rima's face reddened just a little bit when she heard the voice. She quickly scrambled up from the table and towards the person. "Nagihiko!"

Nagihiko smiled. "I finally found you, Rima-chan. I've been looking all over for you."

"Yeah, well," Rima scoffed, "I've been stuck in here for a while."

"But why didn't you come meet up with Yaya-chan, Sanjou-kun, and me this morning? We were worried. Plus, Amu-chan told me that you didn't text her back at all," Nagihiko explained.

"Nagihiko, have you seen the booth I'm in? Look at this...this...ick," she spat out the last word loudly.

"Rima-chan, working at the kissing booth isn't all that bad."

Rima rolled her eyes. "Well, seeing as how you're a guy, I'm sure _you_ wouldn't mind at all." Nagihiko made a face. "Then again, you are a crossdresser, so you've probably never even kissed a girl."

Nagihiko couldn't help but argue. "Wrong, Rima-chan." He crossed his arms and smirked. "That one time, a few months ago, you kissed me. Remember?"

"It was an accident!" Rima cried, dramatically throwing her hands up in the air. "_You_ kissed _me_! Got it? Not the other way around."

"Sure, Rima-chan. Whatever floats your boat," he replied sarcastically.

"Ugh, whatever," Rima pouted angrily.

Nagihiko had to admit that she was extremely cute when she pouted. She was also cute when she was angry, or when she was happy, or...Nagihiko blinked. Well, she was always cute. He smiled at the thought.

Rima gave him a weird look. "What are you smiling for?" She looked to the side and mumbled, "Weirdo-girly-boy."

Nagihiko just smiled. "So Rima-chan, you wanna explore the festival?"

A flash of happiness appeared on Rima's face, but was soon replaced by a worried frown. "The manager said I have to stay here, since I'm the only one working in this booth."

"Yeah, but it's not like you're making any progress, right? We'll go really quick and come back before the festival ends," he pointed out.

Rima gave him a small smile. "Okay. Where will we go?"

Grinning widely, Nagihiko gave her a wink and with picked her up, princess-style. "It's a surprise~"

Rima just gaped at him. His flirty side was coming out. "N-N-Nagihiko! Put me down!" she yelled.

"Hmm..." Nagihiko considered. "Nope."

A short while later, Nagihiko had carried Rima to the back part of the festival, which was somehow hidden in the shadows so no one could see them.

"Seriously, Nagihiko. Where. Are. You. Taking me?" an exasperated Rima shouted.

He ignored her and went on. After a few minutes, Nagihiko finally set Rima down. "Hmph," Rima scoffed, "I hope I was at least heavy enough to make you tired."

"Nope, not tired at all," Nagihiko said as he made a show of arrogance, "but are you sure you're the proper weight for a girl your size?"

"Shut up Nagihiko. I'm not overweight." Looking around her, she asked, "So what do we do now?"

Nagihiko smiled and pointed above her. Rima followed his finger and looked up to find a big red and blue ferris wheel. "Wow," she whispered. "Since when did we have a ferris wheel?"

"Since now." Nagihiko stretched his hand out to Rima. "Let's go."

Rima stared at his hand before slowly slipping hers into it. Rima looked up and smiled at Nagihiko as they ran towards the ferris wheel.

The line for the ferris wheel wasn't that long, since most of the people had gone to see the magic show. "Two tickets, please," Nagihiko requested.

The student in charge of the line led them to a compartment in the ferris wheel and before they knew it, they were moving.

Nagihiko sat across from Rima, and to their side was a see-through glass, which showed a stunning view of the outside world. The sun was still up, and it gave the entire festival a happy glow that would light up anyone's face.

Breaking the evident silence, Nagihiko mumbled to himself, "I wonder, do you like someone?" It was so soft that Rima almost missed it. Almost.

Nagihiko saw that Rima didn't show any facial expressions and thought that she didn't hear him. "Yes," she replied softly._You._ "Do you?" she asked.

He looked up in surprise. "I do."

"It's really pretty outside," Rima commented wistfully.

"Yeah," Nagihiko replied. "It is." _Just like _you_._

* * *

After the ride was over, they bought some snacks and ate as they headed back into the kissing booth. The two sat on the floor as they finished their remaining cotton candy.

A short distance away from the booth they heard someone say, "Did we get a lot of money today?" "Yeah! Boss is gonna be happy!"

As she heard that, a look of dread appeared on Rima's face. "I didn't get any money today," she said in a shocked voice. "The festival manager's going to be so mad." Sighing, she continued. "And this is what I get for kicking out almost every guy that walked in."

Rima finished her cotton candy and went back to her ball position under the table. Nagihiko followed her and stood in front. "What are you talking about, Rima-chan? There's one thousand yen in your collection box," he casually said as he glanced in the box. Sure enough, there was a crumpled thousand yen bill.

Rima got up and looked in it. Her eyes widened. "Wha- That wasn't in there before."

"I know."

"You're serious," Rima replied flatly. Nagihiko nodded. "I know I like you and all, but I am not kissing you _that_ many times."

"Oh, so you like me, Rima?" He smirked.

"_You didn't hear that!_"

"It's okay, Rima. I like you, too, you know," he said as he curled a strand of his hair dramatically, earning a surprised yet happy smile from Rima, only for it to disappear by his next sentence.

"But you still owe me one thousand yen worth of kisses."

Rima gave him a look while trying to think of ways to worm out of the awkward situation. "Can't I owe you at a later time?" she asked desperately.

"Nope. Because Rima-chan, we're in a _kissing _booth right now."

"Then, starting when?"

Nagihiko grinned. "Starting now," he paused and added, the flirtatious grin still plastered on his face, "So close up, because you're going to be busy today."

* * *

**This took me so long to type up and think of. I already had this thought up months ago, but I procrastinated / got writer's block for it / had those "I-actually-feel-like-studying-right-now" moments.**

**It's my longest one-shot yet, 3000+ words. But ugh, I don't like it that much. It's like, Nagi's big adventure to find Rima and then really short Rimahiko fluff. And then guest appearances with Kukai and (surprise, surprise) Ikuto.**

**Anyways, it's dedicated to Rima for her birthday (because I was too lazy to think up a birthday fic or whatever /shot).**

**So with school and projects and ewwotherstuffs, not a lot of stories. But I've got lots of ideas that I hope to type up soon. :) **

**Cheers~**


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